Stand Alone Sides | by Sara Kuntz

April showers bring May flowers…or so the saying goes. I associate this time of year with the beginning of the growing season. The snow is finally behind us and we have nothing but sunny days ahead. Our markets are blooming and bursting with seasonal favourites and there is a fresh, vibrant scent in the air. Some of my favourite things to have with a spring barbeque are simple delicious salads made with crisp, clean vegetables. These are two of my favourite recipes … both very easy to prepare. The best part is that the ingredients speak so much for themselves, they need very little fussing over to make them taste even better. It might just be a dash of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt, or a squeeze of lemon, and you’ve got the wonderful flavours of spring without too much effort.

LemonZucchini Salad

YIELD: 4 to 6

Ingredients

Salad

1 small bunch of lacinato kale, torn into bite sized pieces½ cup fresh edamame beans, blanched and shelled (I use Ontario grown GMO-free Pristine Gourmet)½ small red onion, sliced into rings and lightly grilled1 zucchini (I used both yellow and green), thinly sliced on a benriner/mandolin or for a fun new twist use a small melon-baller to make little hazelnut sized balls of zucchiniFresh basil leaves1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved (optional)